Fashion books round-up: Glossy, vainglorious, light on words … but no worse for it

Fashion books, generally, are a paradox. While they multiply in both number and size, the information they impart decreases in inverse proportion. Glossier than the glossiest magazine – and often bankrolled by the fashion houses which fill said magazine with the slick advertising that pays its way – they've become vainglorious pictorial bibles of brand consumption.